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Niagara-on-the-Lake town council has decided to seek more input from residents before establishing a tree bylaw for urban areas.

A staff report on tree preservation and protection that was requested by council in June was received Monday. It suggested that the current tree bylaw which only deals with public property not be amended and that staff continue to move ahead with a public consultation process to establish regulations for urban areas.

In June, several residents spoke at council and 1,000 signed a petition asking the town to put regulations in place to protect existing trees. Staff had recommended that a facilitator be hired for public input on whether there is a need for a bylaw that would also include private properties in the urban areas.

After receiving advice from the town’s solicitor, staff recommended that bylaws adopted by the cities of Guelph, London and Ottawa be considered for Niagara-on-the-Lake. Staff reported that the solicitor advised the Guelph bylaw would be the most suitable one for the town.

“The challenge in creating any policy or bylaw is to balance the need for preservation and protection and the greater good of the community with the need to respect the rights and responsibilities of individual property owners,” staff reported.

There would be costs for the public consultation process and implementing a bylaw with a permit system requiring enforcement staff and access to a qualified arbourist, staff noted.

“Council will need to address the question of whether costs should be incurred by individual property owners or accommodated within the town’s administrative costs as part of the general tax base.”

The town’s official plan has a policy that when it is unavoidable that trees must be removed in urban areas, the owner must plant trees of a similar type elsewhere on the site. If that isn’t possible, then the town may require the owner to pay for an equal number of trees to be planted on public lands.

There are no regulations in the town’s strategic plan regarding the preservation of trees. Some councillors have expressed concern that an urban tree bylaw pertaining to private properties could pit neighbours against one another in existing subdivisions.

The public meetings on a new tree bylaw for urban areas will be advertised in the media and on the town’s website after a consultant has been hired.